Deficit and Tax Policy

June 05, 2012 By Guest Blogger

Obama – A Failed Experiment

By Richard Callahan

Job creation almost nil, unemployment increasing, the left is angry, the right is up in arms and the center is grumbling. What is wrong with this great experiment that promised so much?

Almost 4 years ago an eloquent, energetic, charismatic political outsider, Barack Hussein Obama, burst upon the scene. He arrived at a time of great economic turmoil and dissatisfaction with the regime in power and promised sweeping change. He promised change from an economic downturn gripping the country. He promised new, forceful leadership in which all citizens of the country would be united as one and prosperity and economic vibrancy would once again be restored. He promised American international leadership and the restoration of the American dream. Sadly, his promises have proven to be empty rhetoric and his policies have wreaked destruction on the unity of America, it's economy and the hope of so many Americans who believed his false prophecy.

His economic policies have been destructive. The housing crisis, which was one of the main factors behind his being elected, has not improved in his tenure of office. Despite new family formations housing demand has failed to materialize, prices have declined, foreclosures continue to be a serious problem and new construction is almost at a standstill. His policies of vilifying banks and imposing restrictive regulations upon them have curtailed their ability to lend, a prime factor needed for a housing recovery.

As for the general business segment of the economy, Mr. Obama has been openly anti-business both in his proclamations, his costly legislative agenda and his stifling regulatory policies. With the exception of pandering to his union backers in the auto industry, he has portrayed business as evil and his attitude and policies have driven industrial giants overseas to countries where their acceptance and the business climate is more favorable. Specifically his policies of Obamacare, Dodd-Frank legislation, tax and bureaucratic regulatory actions have made doing business in America no longer worthy of long-term investment for expansion and job creation.

He has failed to capitalize on the great economic potential of our vast oil and natural gas reserves. His bureaucrats in agencies such as the EPA, Agriculture Department etc. have imposed or are proposing regulations on drilling (fracking) and laying the necessary pipeline infrastructure which inhibit the realization of this great potential and our ability to approach energy independence. He has, further, threatened oil and gas companies with higher taxes discouraging investment to expand production. Rather than capitalize on the great oil and natural gas potential, he has chosen to promote and throw millions of taxpayer dollars on "green" energy projects which have proven to be unreliable, expensive, not attractive to consumers, with many, ending up in financial collapse at taxpayer's expense. Additionally his answer to producing new jobs is to propose offering tax credits to businesses for hiring and giving wage increases, using a sandwich shop as an example, and promoting tourism. In both specific cases the jobs he promotes are those that pay close to minimum wage as opposed to high paying jobs created if the oil and natural gas industries were allowed to expand without government squelching their efforts.

He proclaims that legitimate oil company expense write-offs are "subsidies" and conveniently ignores the actual cash subsidies handed to companies like the bankrupt "green energy" company Solyndra. He castigates the so called "rich" for not paying their "fair share" of taxes, failing to mention that about 47% of Americans pay no federal income taxes and, in fact, many receive refunds from the government even though they paid no taxes. His policies and edicts have stretched, if not violated, our Constitution and deprived American citizens of their liberty. He has no reluctance to stretch the truth when it fits his agenda or ambitions. A baseball player like Roger Clemens is on trial for allegedly lying to Congress which, if convicted, could mean 30 years in prison. Our president, however, apparently can lie to the American people with impunity.

Mr. Obama has purposely, as part of his re-election strategy, divided the country. He constantly pits the "99%" against the "1%", the "middle class" against the "rich" and the "folks" against the "wealthy". His once promise to unify the country is as empty as the suit he wears, and was another falsehood fed the populace. His strategy of divide and conquer is to feed his own ambition with no concern regarding the damage it does to the unity of the country.

Like a major drug company that has tested a once promising cure for a serious illness, only to find out that it is ineffective and that the side effects are harmful to the patient, we must pull the plug, cease the test and go in a different direction. Mr. Obama has flunked the experiment and new leadership is required.

• Taxes

• Debt

• National

• Spending

• Fiscal Shortfall

• deficit

• National Debt

• Deficit Reduction

• economy

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